It's Raining

The rain is falling all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It's raining on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

This verse by RL Stevenson sums it all up. The Wet as it is known in the northern parts of OZ is alive and well and living here in Manila.

My brolley has become my best friend. Last Monday I forgot it and whilst riding the first jeep of my daily trip to the Academy the heavens opened. The 100 meter dash from the jeep to the boat I catch to cross the Pasig river was just long enough for me to start doing my drowned rat impersonations.

The up side was that unlike being drenched in Oz where at this time of year my teeth would be chattering in very quick order, I was only wet. Two more jeep rides and half an hour in the air-con and it was a distant memory.

The rain does make the traffic more interesting in the Chinese sense. Manilas reputation for chaotic traffic goes up a notch when it rains, where all those people are going escapes me.

Last week when Typhoon, if your in Asia, Hurrican, if your in the Americas, or Cyclone, if you’re an Aussie, Florita or was it Bilis was slipping past Luzon and heading out to sea to do what they do when no one is watching there was some serious rain. I had to visit the tailor at the Poblicion market and it was all but deserted. An area that is usually teeming with life as the picture below shows was reminiscent of an Aussie country town fair that someone had forgotten to publicize.


Another of life’s unanswerable questions for this bemused Aussie which perhaps my more knowledgeable readers maybe able to cast some light.